Armenian Organizations Create Landmark Gathering at Inaugural Pasadena Armenian Festival

Schoolchildren sang and danced, and clambered over a variety of inflatable structures amidst the aroma of grilled meats and vegetables Saturday during the inaugural Armenian Cultural Festival in Victory Park.

Standing among hundreds of residents and families, and rows of vendor tents,  Mihran Toumajan of the Pasadena Armenian Festival organization explained that “Armenians have been in Pasadena since the 1890s, and we have here 30 Armenian-American organizations, churches or groups that have an office or a foundation here in Pasadena, or in the greater San Gabriel Valley.”

“They came together and said, “Let’s do something for the benefit of the greater community, not just the Armenian community, but for everyone.’

“And we finally did it,” Toumajan said, proudly.

Toumajan noted that the Armenian community has held several local events during the past year, including an October vigil at City Hall for Armenian hostages held in Azerbaijan, as well as the annual Armenian Genocide memorial program at the Armenian Genocide Monument.

“We are called the Pasadena Armenian Festival,” he continued. “That’s the name of the coalition. And so this is finally the fruition of what we intended to do at our inception.”

“To hold a festival,” he said, “and invite everyone, people from all walks of life to come and have a taste, really literally have a taste of the Armenian heritage with our food vendors and the Armenian tapestries and the arts and craft shops and really, really get a sense of what it is that the Armenian community provides to the greater community.”

The all-day festival featured a host of vendors, community booths, Armenian dance ensembles, songs, and recitations throughout the morning and afternoon.

There was no one initial spark for the event, Toumajan explained, saying, “We’re all equals, all organizations [that] partake in this. We’ve all come together.”

Toumajan continued, “It’s the idea of 30 organizations coming  together and showing what exemplifies the Armenian spirit here in the San Gabriel Valley. And that is the fact that we have multiple generations of Armenians who’ve settled in San Gabriel Valley.”

There are new immigrants from Armenia and from Syria who’ve had to escape some upheaval over the past decade and moved to Pasadena as well, he said.

Pasadena also has a growing relationship with its Armenian sister city, Vanadzor, Toumajan pointed out, noting that Mayor Victor Gordo is working on a future visit to Pasadena from Vanadzor’s mayor, Arkadi Peleshyan.

The idea of “family” was the overwhelming theme of the day.

Toumajan noted that there are currently a number of PUSD schools with an Armenian language or curriculum component.

Along with that, proceeds from the day’s festival will be distributed to the Sahag-Mesrob Armenian Christian School, the Alfred and Marguerite Hovsepian School on the campus of St. Gregory Armenian Church, and the Levon & Hasmig Tavlian Preschool & Kindergarten.

“This is our way of saying thank you, Pasadena, and thank you, San Gabriel Valley,” said Toumajan. “Thank you for providing this wonderful haven for so many Armenians for so many decades.”